Unveiled during the Watches and Wonders 2023 event in Geneva, Floraison Du Nénuphar and Éveil Du Cyclamen Automata pieces proudly follow the footsteps of the Rêveries de Berylline automaton launched by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2022.
The new Floraison du Nénuphar and Éveil du Cyclamen automatons combine the reading of time on the base with a spellbinding spectacle. About 30cm tall, these objects – created in partnership with the François Junod workshop – display the opening of a flower on demand, revealing a butterfly inside.
The latter’s takeoff required hours of research and experiments: its wings move realistically, batting a few seconds at a time for a natural rhythm. The butterfly then returns to its place at the center of the flower, which simultaneously and gently closes all its petals.
Crystalline music, specifically composed for each automaton, accompanies this scene at the opening and closing of the flowers.
Van Cleef & Arpels Floraison du Nénuphar Automaton
The fully sculpted base of the Floraison du Nénuphar automaton is made of two pieces of griotte marble and a shattuckite bowl – a material composed of copper silicates with tones ranging from blue to green.
These materials, chosen with care by the Maison’s gemologists, were minutely cut and polished to bring out their unique character and verve. The crafts mastered in Van Cleef & Arpels’ jewelry workshops breathe life into the butterfly, whose body is made of a white gold structure adorned with turquoise and diamonds and whose eyes are suggested by two emeralds.
The animal flaps its wings of plique-à-jour enamel, letting light pass through smoothly. It rises above a dome of yellow gold set with yellow sapphires of two shades, spessartite garnets and diamonds that gleam like the sun from the center of a delicate corolla.
The latter is adorned with nuanced hues, the product of skilled airbrushed lacquer. A lily pad and stem appear, drawing the eye toward a rose gold flower bud, similarly lacquered.
To complete the creation, a white-gold fairy set with three shades of blue sapphires graces the base of the object, where a rotating ring tells the hours.
[View the Video of Floraison du Nénuphar Automaton]
Technical details
Height: approximately 27cm, width: 21.5cm
Automaton and mechanical movements, 8-days power reserve
On-demand animation
Cristalline sound created specifically for this object thanks to a chime
Base: yellow gold, white gold, yellow and blue sapphires, griotte marble, shattuckite, black ebony, aluminum, goat leather
Flower lily: yellow gold, rose gold, yellow sapphires, spessartite garnets, diamonds, lacquer
Butterfly: white gold, emeralds, diamonds, turquoise, plique-à-jour enamel
Hour indicator: white gold, sapphires
Van Cleef & Arpels Éveil du Cyclamen Automaton
The Éveil du Cyclamen automaton stirs to life on a base of two pieces of green aventurine and a bowl of purple jade. Expertly polished and harmoniously sprinkled with inclusions, they demonstrate the Maison’s expertise in selecting ornamental stones rare or unusual in jewelry.
The butterfly that flutters above the creation, its precious flapping captivating the eye, shows Van Cleef & Arpels’ High Jewelry expertise.
Special attention was given to the interplay between diamonds, emeralds, lapis lazuli, and plique-à-jour enamel that adorn it, mimicking the form and shimmering look of a real butterfly. It takes place at the heart of a floral arrangement depicting a bouquet of cyclamen.
Airbrush-lacquered one by one in successive layers, the flowers display subtle nuances of pink and purple, identical from one bud to another. As a final detail, a flower of rose gold, lacquer, and diamonds overlooks the rotating ring at the base of the piece, illuminating the course of the hours.
[View the Video of Éveil du Cyclamen Automaton]
Technical details
Height: approximately 27 cm, width: 21.5cm
Automaton and mechanical movements, 8-days power reserve
On-demand animation
Cristalline sound created specifically for this object thanks to a chime
Base: rose gold, yellow gold, white gold, pink sapphires, diamonds, purple jade, green aventurine, lacquer, black ebony, aluminum, goat leather
Cyclamen: rose gold, yellow gold, lacquer
Butterfly: white gold, emeralds, diamonds, lapis lazuli, plique-à-jour enamel
Hour indicator: rose gold, diamonds, lacquer
